


The Ghost

by I_am_Best



Series: WOYtober 2016 [2]
Category: Wander Over Yonder
Genre: Gen, WOYtober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-17
Updated: 2016-10-17
Packaged: 2018-08-22 22:03:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8302853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_am_Best/pseuds/I_am_Best
Summary: Sylvia's hunting ghosts, Wander's throwing parties, and the ghost is trying to do a bit of both.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts found [here](http://dontgetusedtoit.tumblr.com/post/149854345058/woy-tober-challenge%22). Posting all of them in one go this time b/c I shortened my limit to ~500 words apiece, but they're all still connected. HMU ~~kittendispenser~~ [@storiesbybest](http://storiesbybest.tumblr.com) on Tumblr. 
> 
> ETA: [efarukshina made fanart of this story!](http://storiesbybest.tumblr.com/post/153913214298/efarukshina-alright-lets-make-a-disaster) Definitely check them out, their art is adorable!

Decorations

The ghost disappeared around the far corner of the warehouse, Sylvia a dozen or so steps behind them. A sudden, familiar shout gave her an extra burst of speed, though, and she rounded the corner like she was the Timebomb. Sylvia pulled up sharp at the sight of Wander flailing with that little menace she'd been hunting.

A string of fake wilhelm warblers had gotten wrapped around the both of them, flickering their plastic eyes and screaming their canned screams as Wander tried to untangle himself from the white-shrouded person. He wasn't having much luck.

"Little help, Syl?" he asked.

Sylvia made quick work of the warblers around Wander but left the other guy tied up. When Wander went to help them, she caught him around the waist with her tail.

"Buddy, that's the guy that's been causing all the problems."

"Oh." He didn't seem entirely convinced they shouldn't untie the ghost, though, so Sylvia pulled him a little farther away. The ghost wriggled and writhed pathetically against his string-light entrapment.

"We can't let him go, Wander. He's caused construction accidents, stolen supplies... scared people... " Sylvia paused in her tirade to really look at the scene she'd dashed into. This little corner of the planet been turned into some sort of party station. There was a cleared dance floor, a buffet table awaiting food, and bats, jack-o-lanterns, ghosts, and cobwebs strung up everywhere. "Wait, what are _you_ doing?"

"Decorating! Everyone's been workin' so hard, y'know, fixin' things back up. And there's so much damage still. So when I found these decorations, I figured a party would really brighten their spirits. That guy's already getting into it." Wander pointed at the ghost, or where they'd been. The string light warblers and their tinny cries sat all by themselves. He adjusted his hat nervously and glanced at Sylvia.

She let Wander go to slap her tail angrily against the floor. "Flabdrassin' mother-- Did you see where he went?" Wander shook his head. "The instant you see him, you yell for me, okay, Wander? No friendship hugs or whatever. Got it?"

"Got it."

Wander waved until Sylvia was gone from sight, then returned to the project at hand. The old warehouse had some structural damage letting in moonlight and more than enough dust and darkened corners to create a workable enough location for a spooky party, and he's been gathering up supplies as soon as he'd found the first fake jack-o-lantern. He picked up the string lights and began to untangle them. As he worked, he felt someone watching him.

Wander glanced around. The ghost stood behind a fallen support beam. They were lurking very spookily back there, sheet bright and spectral against the darkness. His eyes lit up.

"Wanna help decorate?" he asked, completely forgetting his promise to Sylvia. He bet they knew lots about spooky parties, given their looks.

They nodded again, and Wander waved them over.

Haunted Mansion

The ghost had vanished into the aether. That both irritated Sylvia and relieved her. If he wasn't here, he wasn't causing problems. But if he wasn't here, he could come back to cause problems.

Wander barrelled into her, voice cranked up to a desperate wail. "They stole my haaaaat!"

Case in point. 

"They did _what_ ," Sylvia said dangerously as she gathered him up into her arms. Being angry wasn't going to help Wander. At least if she voiced it. That would only upset him more. But for that little narfmuncher to do that -- Sylvia wouldn't stand for it.

"It's okay," she said, changing her tone as she petted his head. "Do you know where they went?"

Wander shook his head and let Sylvia take him back to the scene of the crime. She whistled.

"Looks like they cleared you out of more than just your hat."

Wander twisted in her arms to survey the warehouse. Nary a warbler nor ghost was to be seen. He tucked his face into Sylvia's chest. She rolled her eyes at his theatrics but set about looking for clues. A sundry of small footprints went everywhere in the dust, and while Sylvia assumed most were Wander's, one set went off in a direction without any return prints.

With some careful maneuvering, Sylvia got Wander to drape sadly and uselessly on her saddle, then set out after the thief. She followed the prints out the warehouse and along a path to a looming, sinister mansion. At least it wasn't a forest. Sylvia'd had enough of those to last a lifetime.

* * *

Sylvia kicked down the door. She hadn't meant to, but it sort of fell off its hinges instead of slamming open when she touched it. Forcefully. With her foot.

"Whoops," she said before stepping into the mansion. "I'll fix that later."

The house groaned as soon as she stepped into it, and Sylvia froze. If she didn't need her hands free to grab a thief, she would have preferred to have Wander in them like a security blanket. At least his warm weight was there on her back. She went forward a little more cautiously.

"Man, a light'd be great right about now," she muttered. The hall was dark, musty, and full of cobwebs that drifted across her hide, causing involuntary shivers. Everything was oddly askew and disorienting, as though half of the foundation had slipped down the hill. Sounds trickled to them from elsewhere in the house, giving the illusion of occupation. Of ghosts.

"My hat could have given us a liiiiiight," rose up weakly behind her.

Firelight licked out from under the gap of a door at the end of the hall. Sylvia kicked this door open, and it swung into the wall with a loud, satisfying BANG like it was supposed to.

The thief fell off their precariously balanced chairs in a billow of white sheet and green hat.

"Hah! Wait, what?"

Monster Monday: Sylvia

Wander's decorations had been strung up around the room, intermingled with moth-eaten curtains, toppled furniture, and windows that must have been blown in when Dominator's drill hit. Boards were haphazardly nailed across them, likely with the hand tools the thief had set out on the table. Candles lit the room, and a warm fire crackled in the hearth. Streamers had been tossed everywhere, some still feeding out from the hat's mouth. Everything was reflected over again in a cracked, wall-length mirror. This place had one been fancy, but must have been abandoned long before Dominator.

The ghost straightened and spread their arms wide in a silent _ta-da_.

Wander dove off of her when he spotted his hat.

He put it back on his head and struck a pose Sylvia had just seen five seconds ago, all his worry gone now that his hat had been safely returned to him. "Ta-da!"

The thief wiggled their arms, still in the same position, like his shadow. That was when Wander realized they were there and looked around at their work.

"A... party?"

The ghost nodded.

"A spooky party?" Another nod. "This is even better than mine! I'll go invite everyone!"

The ghost darted in front of Wander to cut off his exit. Sylvia materialized by Wander's side immediately. She couldn't get a fix on what exactly they were trying to achieve and wasn't going to risk it.

"You gonna let us out?" she asked, cracking her knuckles threateningly.

The ghost shook their head. Fortunately, Wander seemed to speak utter-lack-of-communication like he spoke every other language, and was willing to put himself between the ghost and Sylvia. "Oh, you don't want anyone else to come to the party. Won't be much of a party, then, will it?"

They shook their head more vehemently.

"I suppose y' just need a crowd t' party, an' they do say that three's a crowd," Wander said amiably.

"Are you really going to let that weirdo hold us hostage?" Sylvia asked as the ghost bustled around, apparently happy with that answer, then approached her with a bundle in their arms. When she didn't take it, Wander nudged her.

Sylvia took what turned out to be a sheet like what the thief was wearing. She made an unimpressed noise.

"C'mon, Syl. They made you a costume!" Wander said. As Sylvia pulled it over her head, he asked the thief, "Do I get one?"

They  pointed at his hat.

"Oh, right," Wander giggled. As he sorted out his own costume, the thief sidled over to Sylvia.

Her sheet made it hard to see in the peripheral and she started when small arms reached up to hug her. They backed away for a moment, reassessed, then tried again. She pushed them carefully away with her tail.

"Looks like they want a hug," Wander said, up to his shoulder into his hat, looking for a costume.

"I don't wanna give them a hug. Ghosts don't hug. They're incorporeal."

The ghost slunk away and sat down, oddly, beside a chair instead of in it, and brought their knees up to their chest.

"Syl," Wander gasped dramatically. "You monster." Sylvia snorted. "Ghosts clearly do hug! Right, my ghostly friend?" he asked the ghost,  giving up his search. The thief shrugged.

"Do you want some cookies?" Wander said, hands on his knees. "Will that make you feel better?"

They shrugged again.

Baking

"Do you remember me telling you that guy's been causing problems all over the place?" Sylvia asked Wander as he produced ingredients from his hat and hunted up a mixing bowl and baking tray. She pushed the ghost costume from her head so she could better see him and free herself from the weirdly familiar, rotting wood smell that permeated the fabric

"Do you think they're more of a sugar cookie or a chocolate chip cookie sort of person?" he asked as though she hadn't said anything.

"Wander."

"I'll just make both!"

"Wander."

"Yessss?" he asked, finally pausing in his frenetic cookie-making, though he looked like he knew what Sylvia was going to say. These sorts of things came up fairly regularly.

"We can't have a party with them. If we don't stop their trouble-making --"

"That's what I'm doin'." Wander held up a mixing bowl. "Poor guy's just not very good around people. They gave me my hat back, after all. And made you that cute costume. And they clearly ain't from around here -- I haven't seen a single odd-numbered limb anywhere."

"So...what? We bake them cookies, you hug it out, and we just... don't tell the others?"

"Yeah, basically?"

Sylvia huffed, and was about to point out how bad of an idea that was when she felt something gently poke her side. She yelped and jumped away, fists ready to defend herself.

"Oh, it's you."

The ghost had slunk into the kitchen at some point -- possibly even before they'd begun talking, since they didn't seem to make much sound at all -- and stood where Sylvia had just been. She didn't know why they were bothering her so much when Wander was right there and always raring for hugs.

"Do you like sugar cookies or chocolate chip?" he asked, distracting the ghost, who tilted their head quizzically. "I'll  make both. Let ya find a favorite!"

The ghost pointed at the bunched up head of Sylvia's costume.

"I think they want ya to put it back on." At her disgruntled look, Wander clasped his hands around a whisk and his eyes grew big and watery. "Pleaaase?"

If she could have, she would have rolled her eyes right out of their sockets. "I'm doing this for Wander," she told the ghost as she walked past them, tugging the sheet back on. "Not for you. Now come on, I don't like you near him." The ghost trailed obediently after her.

"Thank you, Syl, I love you!" Wander called from the kitchen.

"Darn right you do," she muttered as she resigned herself to being the ghost's new buddy. She led them back to the fireplace and dismantled their tower of chairs before it could fall and hurt anyone. The ghost clung silently to the edge of her sheet the entire time, with only the pitter patter of small blue sneakers to even remind her they were there. They weren't much of a menace like this. It was hard to believe they'd been causing chaos all over for... whatever reason. Which, since they were here, Sylvia might as well find out the answer to that.

"What's your deal?" she asked.

Vampire

The ghost looked at her with their big, markered on black eyes but said nothing. Sylvia reached toward the sheet. They cringed away, so instead of yanking it off like she wanted, Sylvia let her hand hover. When it became apparent that she wasn't doing anything, they leaned forward to gently bump her hand with his head like a cat. Or Wander.

She furrowed her brows, feeling just on the edge of some really obvious epiphany when she discovered an even more obvious one over the ghost's shoulder.

They didn't have feet in their reflection. It was only a sheet floating there.

"Wander!" she yelled, bursting back into the kitchen and leaving that... whatever that was by their lonesome. "They don't have a reflection."

"Huh," he said as he mixed a bowl full of ingredients in his arms. At some point, he'd acquired a frilly little apron with a heart on it. "Ghosts are nuthin' but souls, so'd have a reflection. Vampires don't got souls, though. Might be a vampire?"

"You were freaking out about these sort of things in the phantom mime forest, why are you so calm now? It's an actual monster. Not some guy in a costume."

"There's gotta be a reason they're hanging around here instead of biting necks or moving on."

Sylvia glanced around for any white then closed the door. "You still want to help them?"

"Sure, though it's been awhile since I've settled any spirits. Do... do you still wanna catch them?"

She sighed. "I don't think the Glorbians are equipt to contain ghosts or vampires or whatever. They'll be better off if we can just get rid of this guy. So how do we do that?"

Favorite Spooky WOY Character

Sylvia returned to the ghost, leaving Wander to finish the cookies he absolutely assured her would melt any spook, ghoul, or phantom's heart. She'd heard stupider things before.

"Sorry," she said flatly when she saw the ghost had huddled down in the corner. Between them and Wander, she could probably stitch together an entire play's worth of over-emoting. When they didn't look up, Sylvia put on her costume and let her tail slither around their waist. She suppressed a shudder. They felt soft and cool, but solid as she pulled them toward her.

"Why are you wearing that sheet?" she asked as they cuddled up against her side, all misdeeds forgiven. They said nothing. She could feel their lack of breathing. "There's no reason to hide. Wander's not going to judge you, and neither am I. You didn't make a very good impression to start. Can only go up from there."

They turned their face into her side. She supposed that answered that question. "How long have you been watching us?" she asked instead, returning to prod at an earlier thought.

The ghost shrugged.

Not much of an answer, but it had to be since they landed. These were Wander's actions, and Wander's shoes. They even felt like Wander when she'd pulled them closer, minus the coldness. Were they trying to be Wander? Sylvia narrowed her eyes.

"Well, let me tell you something, buddy. If you try to replace Wander or hurt him..." Sylvia held up her fist. The ghost quickly shook their head and pointed at her.

Her fist lowered as she tried to interpret his gestures. "It's not about Wander? It's me? Why?"

The ghost hopped up and rummaged around their detritus to return with a pencil and some paper. They settled back down beside Sylvia and began to draw. Sylvia craned her neck to see.

It was her and Wander, but they had wide, white eyes and wider, whiter smiles. They were  hugging, with little hearts around them.  "You want to be like me and Wander? I've heard _that_ before. Best just find someone you like than try to get between us, because there isn't a mountain too high, a valley too low --"

"Or a river too wide to keep apart a pair of pals like Sylvia and I!" Wander finished, entering with a tray of cookies and milk. "The best thing for a spooky party!"

He began to distribute cookies between the three of them, and as Sylvia filled him in on what she'd discovered, they watched the ghost stare at their own portion.

"It'd be easier if you take your sheet off," Sylvia told them. They glanced between her and Wander, who nodded encouragingly, then reached up and pulled off their sheet.

The ghost let it pool in their lap. Or, no. _Wander_ let the sheet pool in his lap, then looked at them with big, headlight eyes and a smile that wrapped almost entirely around his head.

Phobia Friday: Sylvia

"It's the phantom mime me!" Wander whispered from behind Sylvia. She hadn't seen him move, but when he got spooked he all but flew. And he was definitely spooked now. His fur stood on end and his claws were extended, digging into the ply of the rug they sat on.

Sylvia couldn't disagree, but -- "That wasn't real, Wander. That was just a dream you had, right?"

"I thought so," he whispered, as though his doppleganger wasn't sitting only a few feet away, waiting for their verdict. At least Sylvia's, since he hadn't taken his blind-white eyes off of her. She thought of the picture he'd drawn, with a Sylvia like himself.

"Where's your Sylvia?" she asked. The smile slipped at the edges, as though it was melting as opposed to muscles moving under his fur. He looked down. "Is she... gone?"

He didn't respond.

"I can't be her," Sylvia said. "I'm sorry."

He sank down into a puddle of sadness. Even if he was some horrific echo of Wander's nightmares, that was a very Wander thing to do, too. Wander was currently peeking over her saddle, his urge to help fighting with his fear. His nerves were putting Sylvia on edge. 

"Wander, can you give us a moment?"

"Sure..." He slunk away slowly, as though waiting for Sylvia to change her mind, but she didn't.

Sylvia pulled off her sheet and moved over to the other Wander. Settling down beside him, she pulled him against her side again. Even if they couldn't communicate, she knew how to comfort him. She half-curled around him so the frills of her tail touched her arms, trapping him in the circle of her body, just how she did with Wander. If he was cold. And didn't breath.

Sylvia's throat tightened. He might have been Wander's nightmare, but she wouldn't be getting the sensation of Wander's dead body curled up beside her out of her mind any time soon. It made her sick to think of.

She wondered if it was as unnerving for this ghost, to have a Sylvia who breathed, whose blood rushed through her veins and who had words in her mouth. She stroked his side, and he twisted his sheet between his fingers. "Listen, uh, guy. I'm really sorry about whatever happened to your Sylvia. I- I can't even imagine -- " she thought of all those times she'd thought Wander had died. Gutted by that arachnomorph, dissolved in a space worm's stomach, tortured and killed by Dominator, or vaporized when her ship exploded. Sylvia swallowed back tears, but couldn't find the words to continue. Instead she pressed her face against his cool little belly, let the dry fur wick away her tears. One of his hands found her nose and scritched it lightly, probably just like his Sylvia enjoyed.

She didn't know what she would do if Wander died, and Wander was horribly prone to doing stupid things that could get him killed. Sylvia hugged his lifeless little body tighter to her. "I love ya, buddy," she told him.

* * *

"Sylvia," Wander sang quietly from beside her head.   "Are you awake?"

She grunted, then blinked, bleary-eyed, at the sunlit dining room. The fire was nothing but embers, and everything had a crisp, damp coldness to it.

"It's morning. You never called me back, and I, uh, sorta wandered off." He at least had the decency to look sheepish about abandoning her, though both knew that spectral horror wasn't any real danger. "I asked around, and apparently when Dominator destroyed the phantom mime's planet, a chunk of it landed near here. So that's a thing." He shrugged, not sure where to go from that information.

Sylvia shot up, searching for the ghost.

"He's gone -- it was just you and the sheet when I came back." Wander held it up.

Sylvia took it, its strange rotting wood smell bringing to mind dark forests with calliope music playing. She hoped, wherever he'd gone, his Sylvia had found him. She probably missed him.

"Wander. We need to talk."


End file.
